I.
Father, you have led me
so deeply, so beautifully,
to abide within your arms
in the trust and simplicity of a child,
little and defenseless,
but because of your sure embrace,
confident and secure.
You have been teaching me,
so gently, so wonderfully,
to live in each unique moment
in the relaxation of surrender
that simply is at all times,
at this time, unique,
never to be again.
Whatever has been in the past,
is now gone, in the hands of Mercy
—though present, through love and memory,
in my heart, simply so that
I may be grateful, and may pray
for those impressed upon my heart.
And the future, too, has not yet come,
though my heart is open to it
in receptivity to mystery,
to the plans that you, my Father, have.
But as I have come to live more fully
in the fullness of the sacramental meaning
of each moment as it flows from you,
from your loving and paternal hands,
my heart only expands the more for fullness,
for the fullness of eternity’s embrace.
For there is a mysterious connection
between this moment of time
and the ever-present Moment of Eternity,
the eternal Now in which Father, Son, and Spirit
are forever united in the bliss of perfect embrace.
This is an amazing mystery, my God,
that as I dwell in this unique moment
my heart opens out to past and future
—yet not in possessiveness or control,
but in that letting go which is true freedom,
the surrender of a little child who, sheltered,
can simply fall asleep in his Father’s arms.
And yet, dear Father!
Into this restfulness awakens something
that has already been present
for such a long time, burning within.
But it awakens anew with greater ardor,
with a greater sense of responsibility
(yet responsibility enfolded entirely in gift).
This restfulness awakening to deeper ardor,
and this ardent openness enfolded in repose—
this is simply the continuous movement
of the path, my God, that we walk in your love.
In the constancy of your undying, unchanging love,
I gain the confidence to deliver myself to you
in the malleability of soft and docile clay.
And yet in the malleability of childlike relaxation
I gain the simplicity to remain constant,
faithful in the way, my God, that you have shown.
Yes, in this greater constancy in surrender,
in the open handedness of poverty and love,
you awaken anew sensitivity to your invitation.
But within the sensitivity to your unchanging gift
—the invitation to receive your love in each moment,
which never, for a moment, is less or more—
I also become stronger to walk in fidelity
on the path, often difficult, that unfolds for me,
without turning back or giving up in fear.
II.
Concretely, Father, there are so many ways,
through the words of others, through events,
and through the inner desire of my heart,
that you are showing to me anew your desire
for the birth and growth of this Community
whose life and spirit I bear, already, in the womb.
I learned to live within the radiant truth
that your love alone is simply enough for me.
That, if I were to die before tomorrow
nothing at all would be lacking,
for I am already your beloved child,
and nothing in the future will change this.
To be what I am, here and now,
this is, in a way, everything.
For what am I—or rather, who?
Except this unique, unrepeatable beloved,
infinitely precious in your eyes, like no other.
You love me simply to love me,
because you see in me beauty
and by this beauty are drawn to me.
Because you yearn to give yourself to me
and to take me, in turn, into yourself.
And from this very place of personal encounter,
from this sanctuary of belovedness,
my heart opens out and expands
to see unique and precious beauty in others
and to be drawn to them, my God,
in some small way as you are.
Indeed, my heart expands to welcome,
unreservedly, those whom you give to me,
and to carry them, like a mother, deep within,
to carry them like a brother, tenderly,
like a father, gentle, compassionate, and strong,
and like a spouse, faithful, ardent, and sacrificial.
Yes, my God, to let the multifaceted light
—yet a light wholly undivided and pure—
the light of your own love shine in me.
And this light, refracting in the crystal of my soul
becomes radiant in the unique colors
that are manifest, uniquely, in my life.
And here the awareness grows again explicit
that the gift entrusted to me,
the gift of this call and this charism
which refract within my child’s heart,
are also meant to be shared in by others—
or, perhaps better, that there are others
who also bear the same gift, yet unique,
within their own unique heart and life.
It is like a man and woman who come together,
each, above everything, simply a son and a daughter
of your paternal love, eternal Father,
and yet, within this primary mystery of childhood,
expressing their childhood through spousal love,
and through the blossoming of fecundity,
in fatherhood and motherhood, in creativity.
And their reception, loving Father,
of the undying fidelity of your fatherly love,
allows them, as beloved children,
to also remain faithful in their turn
to all that you ask and entrust to them.
So in me, my dear and loving Father,
and in each of those whom I love
within your love, and carry in my heart,
you are at work in this same mystery.
And those—whether I have met them
or this still lies wholly in the future—
in whom your gift and call already live,
are bound together to me, and I to them,
within the love that draws us together,
so that through our union in self-giving
something beautiful may be born within the world.